Ten Things Everyone Should Be Able To Do

[rp252]

 

I'm just off to put some 710 in my car.  I've got a 710 leak!

Very funny 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Amusing that, for the members of an internet forum, the least performed activity is a fairly simple computer repair!

 

Def

[Dunc]

Amusing that, for the members of an internet forum, the least performed activity is a fairly simple computer repair!

 

Def

Looks like we're back on topic guys . Me bad 

[Grant Lamontagne]

No worries Dunc- a topic that stays on topic here is a rare thing indeed! 

Def

[ducttapetech]

Change a tire.....i lost count how many time i have changed a tire. Also i can also take a old tire off a rim and put on a new one with a couple of screwdrivers and a hammer.

clean and bandage a cut.....oh yeah, i have bandage myself a ton of times......

repair a hole in a whole...just a couple of times

change a light fixture....yes, and breakers, hot water heaters, outlets, boxes and etc..

paddle a boat...yes

check your oil....yes

change a wiper blade..yes and head lights, fuses, drive shafts, engines, transmissions and so on

build some thing basic out of wood.. yes, boxes, decks, box stalls, sheds, and a barn once

swap out a hard dive or a cd/dvd dive..only once, dont mess with puters that much

change a fuse..tons

as far as helping horses, oh yeah, i have 4 of them now, i can shoe them too

same goes for cattle, i used to be a dairy farmer.

[gustophersmob]

>.>  It took me a minute... I'm just happy I could delete my post before I looked like a laughing stock.    

But its still there in my quote     

Egads, poo.

 

Haha, I thought the same thing for a second too! 

[Turnstone]

Just today I checked and filled up oil on our car. First time on this car, and I looked up what the other things there were good for 

That turned out to be really useful yesterday. On the way to work in snowy conditions and with lots of salt on the road I realized that I ran out of washing water for the windshield. After a very short time I could see near to nothing, but I knew that there was a parking area with a restroom on the highway where I wanted to stop anyway. With what I knew due to my explorations after this thread I had no problems opening the front lid (that switch is really hidden), finding immediately the right place for the water, and thanks to my winter kit I had a bottle of water that I could use (and tap water nearby with which I could refill the bottle until the washing water tank was full). Only thing that was missing was anti-freeze to add, but we had a bottle of anti-freeze to spray on the windshield if its frozen on the outside, so I used that instead. No problem, no need for all the men around to help a woman  But I was happy to handle this situation this way, I prefer to be independent. I can ask for help if needed, no problem, but I would feel bad to ask for help for such a small problem like no washing water... 

[Threeme2189]

repair a hole in a whole...just a couple of times

How do you do that?   

 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Good to hear it Sabrina! 

If you get comfortable with the basics under the hood, you can go a long way towards troubleshooting problems.  Simple things like learning the names of each piece of equipment that make your car go, and what each one does can save you some money, even if you can't fix it yourself.  You can help a mechanic home in on a specific problem, saving him time, and possibly show him you know a bit about cars so you don't end up paying extra for the premium headlight fluid!

Def

[Outback in Idaho]

Seen women run their cars dry of oil, and coolant, because "that was their man's job". Used to work hospital security and in the summer and winter months countless owners were calling for help with their non-functional cars because of this issue. We've even had car owners claim they never checked the fluids for several years, because they assumed that since it came full and it didn't go anywhere it should still be there.

[Grant Lamontagne]

It's not actually a gender thing- my brother in law couldn't find the brakes on a car if they were clenching his goodies.

Def

[BlueDot]

It's not actually a gender thing- my brother in law couldn't find the brakes on a car if they were clenching his goodies.
Def

       

[MultiMat]

It's not actually a gender thing- my brother in law couldn't find the brakes on a car if they were clenching his goodies.

Def

Visions of;

Mechanic "yep found your problem with your squealing brakes , it was coming from this fella here, some how he got his knacker bag stuck in the calipers  "     

[J-sews]

It's not actually a gender thing- my brother in law couldn't find the brakes on a car if they were clenching his goodies.

Def

Visions of;

Mechanic "yep found your problem with your squealing brakes , it was coming from this fella here, some how he got his knacker bag stuck in the calipers  "   

I hate it when that happens!

[Dtrain]

Drive a Vehicle with a Manual Transmission and be able to float the gears

[Outback in Idaho]

Not to change the subject, but how do batteries change how something performs?

Came home yesterday to listen to my mom's sister saying she was going to take the batteries she just bought back and get a refund because it made her hearing aid echo. I know amperage can change how electronics work, but how does a power supply cause an echo?

[Grant Lamontagne]

Just for amusement's sake, I found this old video I made of me upgrading the RAM in my laptop:

Not to change the subject, but how do batteries change how something performs?

Came home yesterday to listen to my mom's sister saying she was going to take the batteries she just bought back and get a refund because it made her hearing aid echo. I know amperage can change how electronics work, but how does a power supply cause an echo?

I have no idea, but I do know that fancy aluminum pedals in my old VW years ago made my car go faster! 

Def

[Dtrain]

CPR?

[papa_bob]

Done all of it 

[Zed]

All for me too, 

[SMK]

ehhhh...
i can't do much eletrical stuff since most of that is a quick fix my dad does in a short period of time (as you can tell i'm very self reliant )
cd/dvd drive i can do
wood...kinda
Car stuff i'm good at

[enki_ck]

BTW has anyone tried playing electrician with a leatherman? 

DON'T!!! That's how Einstein and Doctor E. L. Brown got their hairdoos.

That rubber on the pliers handles is there for a reason.

[AHB]

That rubber on the pliers handles is there for a reason.

Wise words.. 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Bringing this thread back up because a similar article has been circling around Facebook for a while now:

What a Young Man Should Know, 1933. A checklist for becoming a proper man.

This was published in the March 1933 issue of Harper’s Magazine.

The writer, Robert Littell, details the abilities, skills, accomplishments, and extra-curricular proficiencies that every man should have if they are to become a self-sufficient and well-rounded human being, ready for life, and eventually, marriage and raising their own children. The learning starts from a very young age.

Here is the (short) list:

1. He should know how to swim at least a mile, dive creditably, and not feel panicky under water. He should be able also to revive those less skilful than himself by rolling them on a barrel and pumping their helpless arms.

2. He should be able to drive an automobile well. And he should not be altogether helpless when a car breaks down. He must know how to change a tire and offer some sort of diagnosis when the engine sputters and dies.

3. He ought to know how to clean, load, and shoot a revolver or a rifle.

4. As for self-defense, a man should certainly be able to take care of himself in a scrap. He need not learn jujitsu — old-fashioned boxing will be enough.

5. He ought to know the rudiments of camping, how to build a fire, how to chop wood, how to take a cinder out of his eye, how to deal with a severed artery, how to doctor himself for ordinary ailments.

6. He should also be able to take care of other people in emergencies, to apply first aid, set a broken bone, revive a drunk or a victim of gas, deal with a fainting fit, administer the right emetic or antidote for a case of poisoning.

7. And he should be able to feed himself, to cook, not only because some day he may need to, but because cooking is one of the fine arts, and a source of infinite pleasure. He should be able to scramble eggs, brew coffee, broil a steak, dress a salad, carve a chicken, and produce, on occasion, one first-class dish, such as onion soup. The more he can do, in these days of the delicatessen store and the kitchenette, the better. It is not effeminate, it is not beyond him, and the best chefs are all men.

8. He should know how to use paint brushes, a saw, a hammer, and other common tools.

9. He should also have a beautiful and distinguished handwriting. But the bulk of his writing, particularly if he is a professional man who has much of it to do, should be done on a typewriter, capable of turning out three thousand words an hour.

10. He should play one outdoor game well, and have a workable smattering of several more. An American who cannot throw and catch a ball seems pathetic and grotesque.

11. The bicycle has gone, yet every young man should know how to ride one.

12. He should also be able to skate, sail a boat, and handle a canoe passably.

13. “hike” once in a long while but seldom walk.

15. He should know a great deal about animals and how to take care of them.

16. He should know how to ride a horse.

17. He should learn how to stay in a saddle with pleasure to himself and a minimum of annoyance to his mount.

18. He should learn how to dance.

19. He should know to play at least one card game.

20. He must have knowledge of how to tip naturally, justly, without fear and without reproach.

21. On the matter of alcohol, he should learn his capacity and stick within its limits; he should know something about the different kinds of drink, and which drinks produce chaos within him when mixed.

22. Where s:x is concerned, nature clearly intended us to make many mistakes in her hope that some of them would be productive.

23. He should know the rudiments of gambling. But gambling might be placed on the same plane as drink — the less use one has for it the better.

24. Higher than almost any other accomplishment on the list is knowing music. There is no reason why any young man who is not absolutely tone-deaf should not learn how to play one musical instrument well enough for it to be a self-resource and a tolerable pleasure to others.

25. A civilized man should know how to read. The ability to read, or rather the habit of reading, is very rare even among intelligent people, and has to be taught and kept up if it is not to become rusty.

26. He should have knowledge of at least one foreign language. French or German preferably both. German children learn an amazingly good brand of English without ever crossing their borders. Why can’t we? For one thing, we don’t really want to. Yet we should. An American who knows only English is blind in one eye.

27. He should know to travel well, efficiently, without fuss or complaint.

28. A young man should be able to express himself clearly before a crowd of strangers, without shyness, muddle, or a pathetic resort to “so much has been said and well said” or “I did not expect to be called on.”

29. The British adult can get to his feet, propose a toast, introduce a stranger, voice a civic protest, heckle a windbag politician, and give utterance to an unembarrassed thought.

30. A a man should command the elementary tool of written language, and be able to put simple things on paper in clear words.

31. He should have a good workable understanding of the structure of business, investments, and banks.

32. Let every educated man, as a necessary part of his education, be thrown into the muddy stream of American industry and see what it is like to swim alone on daily wages.

33. He should before reaching twenty-two have done something because he wanted to, whether other people wanted him to do it or not.

34. He should not acquire property unless he needs it. Insensitiveness to his personal property, unless of course it is extraordinarily beautiful, is a desirable skill for any man to have; It must be learned and worked at.

35. Unusual though this young man may be, he should not seem so. Is not a parent’s basic ambition for his child that he be very different from other people, yet manage to seem almost exactly like them?

Thoughts?

You know, other than being a bit biased (and a bit insulting) to Americans specifically, and also a bit sexist.

I fall down a bit on the car repair one- I can do some basic things but I'm not as good as I'd like, and musical instruments have always been at odds with my complete lack of musical talent.

Def

[BPRoberts]

Of the first list:

Tire: Swapped the spare on for my wife last month. I do not know how to put a new tire on a wheel.
Cut: Yes
Hole: As long as it isn't too big.
Light: The whole thing, not just the bulb? I've never thought about it. I've changed a switch, so I think I probably could.
Paddle: Yep, 50 miles "through a hurricane" when I was a teen. Can still make it around the pond now.
Oil: I did it once or twice when I first learned to drive, so I'd have to look up how to do it again, but I think I could manage with basic instructions.
Wiper: Yep. The back ones are always a pain in the ass.
Wood: Sure.
Hard drive: That's like 2 plugs, easiest thing on the list!
Fuse: Yes. Glad I don't have to do it much anymore though.

On the second:
Swim: I think I could manage a slow mile if I had to, though I've never measured a swim. Not a great diver, but I can make it to the bottom. I have never rolled someone on a barrel or pumped their arms.
Drive: Yes. I can check my fluids, which I think is the second part of this, more or less.
Shoot: Yes.
Fight: I have never taken a boxing class, and it's been a long time since I in a fight.
Camping: Severed artery feels out of place here, but I think I'm a proficient camper.
First aid: Mostly yes, although I don't know much about administering antidotes.
Cook: Yep. I love to cook. I think calling onion soup a first class dish is a bit of a stretch, but I can make it.
Tools: Mostly not as well as I'd like, but I'm getting better bit by bit.
Handwriting: My penmanship is passable. Three thousand words an hour is aggressive, but doable if I had to.
Game: I like frisbee.
Bike: I was more of a roller blade kid, but I can bike if need be.
Skating, boating, canoeing: Oh, there's skating. I'm a decent canoer, but I do not know how to sail.
Hike: I like both hiking and walking.
Animals: My cat is still alive.
Horse: Nope
Saddle: Nope I don't even know how these are two different things!
Dance: My wife seems to think I do alright.
Cards: I like cribbage, but I can do blackjack and some pokers.
Tip: Like at a restaurant?  I think I'm missing something here.
Alcohol: I know my limits.
Sex: See dancing
Gambling: See cards. I don't really like to gamble much. I'll play darts for a beer, but that's about it.
Music: I was a decent trombone player at one point, and still a fair singer. I'd like to learn a small instrument like a harmonica or something, there's not a big call to whip out the trombone at camp or whatever.
Read: I try to read every night before bed, if nothing else. Right now I'm working through the Harvard Classics with a side of old sci-fi when I need something light.
Language: I can avoid completely embarrassing myself in Spanish, and am slowly improving.
Travel: I love to pack light, and prefer trains to airplanes.
Public speaking: Everyday
Toast: I don't think I've ever had to, but I think I think I could manage. The others I have a bit more experience with.
Write: I hope so, otherwise I wasted a lot of money on my Masters.
Banks: Put your money there instead of your mattress. Buy low, sell high. Keep revenue above expenses. I am not a business owner, and I think I prefer it that way.
Wages: I didn't starve to death or have to sleep on a bench for the 10 years or so it took to get married after I moved out of my parents.
22: I got paid to comment a video game tournament, thus proving my mother wrong when she said I'd never make money on video games, at about this age. It was fun for a day, but I wouldn't want to do it full time.
Property: I am working on not being that person that fills his new house with tons of useless smurf.
35: I'm unique, just like everyone else.

[AzteCypher]

I can do almost everything.

I can't paddle a boat - never had the opportunity.
I can't skate but I can skateboard.
My handwriting is ok and I can use a fountain pen.
I'm not great at sports but I'm ok at soccer.
I've only ridden a horse twice so not an expert.
    My wife can actually ride a horse.
I can't play an instrument to save my life.
Property.... I collect SAKs and knives so...

I can however do most work on our cars except for engine internals and transmission internals.
I can shoot a bow.
I can make biscuits from scratch.

[Gareth]

I actually do reasonably well on this list.  I fall down on my foreign language skills I must admit. Oh, and I doubt my penmanship is up to 1930s snuff.  I can ride a horse but I'm much more likely to be found on a bicycle, despite that list's prediction.

[Grant Lamontagne]

BP- if you have been on a horse and the animal didn't express it's annoyance in an overly obvious manner, you did okay.  1500 pounds of discount hamburger will absolutely let you know if it doesn't want you there, and there's precious little you can do about it.

I also think that you are a skilled camper if you believe that a severed artery is not a regular occurrence at camp!

That having been said, I have gotten my share of stitches from camping, and my father did almost remove his fingers while camping one time.  Having first aid training is never a bad thing, and I suppose camping is just one opportunity to practice.

Def

[BPRoberts]

Did and oil and filter change with my buddy. MP600 helped.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Good job!

I need to change my air filter soon too. Boys been too long and I work in a very dusty environment.   

Def